Recent blog picks

I find that a read far fewer blog feeds these days, and find myself retiring feeds that–while they might have interesting posts once in a while–are not interesting on a regular basis. That said, I’ve added a number of feeds as well, over the last few months, into a folder on Bloglines called “Probation.” Some that have survived so far include:

* Architectures of Control is all about control and user interfaces in the physical world. Does a great job of collecting examples of how ways in which mechanisms and built environment are designed for social control. Consistently good stuff.

* The Last Psychiatrist contains observations on mental health, public policy, and a bunch of other stuff. It is often highly opinionated–the author notes that it is intended to foster more critical reflection.

* The Book Design Review starts with a sample of recent books in the New York Times Book Review and talks a bit about their cover design.

* The Daily DIY brings in posts from DIY sites (Instructables, etc.). It’s pretty high volume, but has some interesting stuff.

* I’ve been tracking the blog of Slate’s Human Nature which recently has been running articles on human reproduction and genetics policies.

* Tom Barrett, a primary school teacher in England, publishes ICT in my Classroom about his experiences with, um, ICT in his classroom.

* Open Education collects stories relating to opening access to education for everyone.

* I don’t know much about the folks who put together WebUrbanist, but I wish they would stop listening to my thoughts. Yes, the design and article titles (“top 7 ways of making top 12 lists”) feel Calicanistacular, but the actual content is great.

* Since Boing Boing is one of my favorite blogs, I had to add Boing Boing Gadgets, and I’m glad I did. When I decide to winnow the gadget blogs I follow (soon!), this one will probably be a keeper. I only wish Boing Boing would allow you to opt out of the “Best of BB Gadgets” posts, as they are redundant for those following both.

* And since Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools is my favorite gadget site, I had to add his Technium, in which he posts infrequent (but frequently brilliant) discussions of our technical world.

* Developing Intelligence is one of the blogs in the ScienceBlogs network, and deals with issues of neurology and cognition.

* Active Social Plastic is another social architecture blog, this time by grad student Molly Wright Steenson.

* Finally, in the arena of guilty pleasures, I have been following two blogs: Born Rich, which details the ridiculous consumer goods available to those with ridiculous disposable income (60 megapixel cameras, tiki bar trailers, etc), and Private Islands, which has infrequent posts about small inhabited islands around the globe.